


A Lesson Learned

by ideserveyou



Category: Arthur of the Britons
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, First Time, Humor, M/M, Masturbation, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-12
Updated: 2010-10-12
Packaged: 2017-10-12 14:58:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/126138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideserveyou/pseuds/ideserveyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kai teaches Arthur how to chat up girls, and they both learn something</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lesson Learned

Slap.

 

'Get away from me – I never want to see you again!'

The smith's pretty daughter storms off down the path towards the river, her red hair rippling in the breeze, her pert rear view the picture of female indignation. Kai grins appreciatively as she passes him, and winks at the other young men who have just returned with him from a boundary patrol and are cleaning their weapons in the autumn afternoon sunshine outside the longhouse doors.

Then he turns to see what caused her anger, and the smile dies on his lips as Arthur emerges forlornly from behind the stables, hands hanging by his sides, head down, his pale cheek with a red mark already beginning to show where the girl's furious hand hit home.

'Oh, no.' Kai mutters to himself. 'Not again…'

He puts down the spear he was polishing, tucks his axe into his belt, rolls his eyes apologetically at the other lads, and gets to his feet.

He is beginning to worry about his younger brother; ever since Kai came of age, two years ago now, and has been drinking, training and fighting with the men instead of with the boys, it seems that Arthur has been on a single-minded, self-destructive quest to prove to himself and everyone else that he is as good, or better. This coming Yule Arthur himself will be of age, and will undergo the initiation ceremonies before being formally confirmed as the tribe's leader. But Kai is concerned, and he knows that Llud, too, fears that Arthur may not be ready to take on this responsibility. There is no doubting his intelligence and grasp of strategy, or his skill at arms, or his horsemanship, or the fact that he is well-liked and a natural commander; but he is still so young… And this summer it's been worse than ever. He's injured himself and several others in weapons training, broken three ribs falling from an untried horse that one of the other boys challenged him to ride, spent a couple of days in bed, miserable and groaning, after a mead-drinking contest with some of the older men, and been beaten by Llud for disobeying orders and leading a raiding party into a trap because he thought he knew better.

To say nothing of the girls...

Kai sighs to himself as he strides up the track between the huts. He himself, with his striking good looks and ready charm and confidence, has little trouble getting any girl he may fancy in the village. Arthur, on the other hand, seems doomed to perpetual disappointment, no matter how hard he tries. And he's been trying very hard… Kai knows he's had an eye to the smith's copper-haired daughter for a month or more, and has been taking every chance to speak to her alone, but it seems that once again he's been rejected. Kai doesn't know whether to be sorrowful or relieved. But he does know that he has to try to help.

Arthur doesn't look up as Kai approaches and lays a friendly hand on his shoulder. 'What happened this time, then?' he asks, lightly.

Arthur is shaking under his hand; Kai is careful not to look at him. He swallows. 'I don't know.' His voice is bleak. 'I – I thought she wanted –'

'But she didn't, by the look of you.' Kai keeps his voice cheerful, but his heart is wrung. He knows there is someone in the village who would willingly take from Arthur everything he wanted to give, without hesitation, but whom it will never occur to Arthur to ask…

Arthur shakes his head. 'No, she didn't.' He sighs. 'They never do. Not from me, anyway.' He looks up at Kai, who is still a good head taller. 'But they do from you. What is it, Kai? What am I doing wrong?'

'Perhaps you're just not ready. Girls can tell. Give it another year or two and they'll be lining up outside the longhouse waiting for you to look in their direction…' Kai knows this is probably the wrong line to take, and indeed Arthur's features harden in indignation.

'I am ready. I'm older than you were when you had your first –'

Kai says quietly, 'It's not really to do with how old you are.'

'Well, what, then?' There is an edge of desperation in Arthur's voice. 'What's your secret, Kai? How come you don't get your face slapped all the time?'

Kai grins. 'I do sometimes. Not as often as I used to, though. I've learned how to avoid it…'

'Will you teach me?'

This request is unexpected, and Kai doesn't quite know how to answer it. He swallows hard. 'I'm… I'm not sure I can.' He isn't sure he should even try, either. Because, much as he longs to help Arthur with this, he really doesn't want to succeed…

'Please, Kai –'

To Kai's horror, there are tears in Arthur's blue eyes. He is aware, without turning round, that some of the other young warriors are still watching from the longhouse yard. No doubt some of them are sniggering by now. He hates it when they laugh at Arthur behind his back – nobody dares do it to his face, not any more, but even so Kai has been in more than one fight on his brother's account this past summer. His mind is made up. He can't let them see their future leader like this…

He tightens his grip on Arthur's shoulder and turns him round, away from the village and the mocking watchers.

'Come on, then,' he says quietly. 'I'll see what I can do.'

They walk together a little way into the forest, side by side. When Kai glances at Arthur again, he has composed himself and his face is pale and set. That profile is so familiar to Kai, and yet he never tires of looking at it… With an effort, he too composes himself and gives his mind to the task in hand. Whatever Arthur needs from him, he will do his best to provide, no matter what the cost.

Kai takes a deep breath. 'Now then. The thing to remember about girls is that they're like deer – they run away if they see you coming. And they've got very keen eyes and ears. So you need to sneak up on them. Get a step ahead of them if you can. First of all, get your quarry away from the herd.' He smiles at Arthur. 'So… imagine you're my chosen girl for today, and I've already persuaded you to walk with me in the forest. But if I just back you up against a tree and start – well, you know – '

This is going to be more awkward than he expected. Already he can feel himself growing hard at the thought. He keeps talking, to cover his embarrassment.

'At any rate, you'd very likely slap my face and run a mile. So instead, I need to persuade you that you can trust me.'

'I do trust you.'

Kai grins. 'Not if you're a girl with any sense, you don't. But I'm just walking beside you. No danger in that, is there?' He makes his voice warm and friendly. 'What's your name?'

'What? You know my name. How is that going to help?'

Kai sighs. 'You're the girl, remember? Tell me your name, and you'll see how it'll help.'

'Very well. My name is Arthur.'

'A beautiful name for a beautiful face.' There is no hint of mockery or insincerity in Kai's tone. 'And who is your father, Arthur?'

'My father is dead.' Arthur isn't making this easy, but Kai persists anyway.

'I'm sorry.' He puts a gentle hand on Arthur's shoulder for a moment. 'So who is the man of your household now? Who takes care of you?'

Arthur is beginning to enjoy the game. 'Well, I have an older brother…'

'Do I know him?'

'All the village knows him,' Arthur says, proudly. 'His name is Kai, and he's tall, and strong, and he'll fight anyone who puts a stain on my honour.'

Kai smiles, enjoying the challenge. 'Ah, yes, I know him. A fine warrior indeed. If a little… unconventional in his dress. And he must be very proud to have such a lovely, erm, sister...'

They keep walking down the path. Very gently, without looking round, breaking stride, or stopping the flow of small-talk, Kai reaches out and takes Arthur's hand in his.

 

A few minutes later they come to a clearing near the bottom of the East Hill, and Kai stops and grins at Arthur.

'Now do you see how that helped? I know your name, so I can ask around the village for you if you do run away; I know what menfolk will come after me if I displease you; you know that I find you beautiful, and…'

'What?' Arthur is suddenly suspicious.

'And you trust me enough that I've been holding your hand for the past five minutes or more and you haven't even noticed.'

Kai is laughing. Arthur looks down and snatches his hand away, a slight frown between his dark brows; but then he too laughs, and holds out his hand to clasp Kai's, in acknowledgement of his victory. 'You win that round.' He looks at Kai admiringly. 'How did you make all that pretty talk sound so convincing?'

'Lots of practice,' Kai lies. 'Girls like it if you just keep talking. Spinning pretty stories. And you keep hoping that one day you'll be saying it to a girl because you've fallen in love with her, not just because you're trying to get her into bed. There's a difference, you know.'

Arthur shakes his head. 'I don't know. It seems to me that it's all the same thing.'

'That's because it hasn't happened to you yet.' Kai looks away, pretending to be watching the flight of a bird across the clearing. 'But one day it will. And when it does, you'll know.'

'Has it ever happened to you?'

 

Kai sighs, and picks his words carefully, skirting round the edge of the truth he's never been able to tell anybody. 'Once.'

'Who was it?'

'It doesn't matter. We – we can't be together. That's all there is to it.'

'I'm sorry…'

Kai can't bear Arthur's sympathy. 'Listen, we're not here to talk about my love life. We're here to sort out yours, remember?'

Arthur hears the warning in his voice, and to Kai's relief he turns back to their game.

'So what happens next?'

'Well, perhaps you're tired after we've gone so far. Would you like to sit here and rest awhile?' Kai's voice is gentle, concerned, coaxing.

'I'm not tired.' Arthur grins. 'And I want to see how you handle a girl with a mind of her own.'

'The idea is that she won't have a mind of her own by the time I'm done. She'll be completely in my power.'

'Oh, really?' Arthur's smile is wide and challenging.

Kai groans. 'And you thought you always got the difficult ones… Very well. Now, if I really still thought you'd hit me if I tried anything, I'd just keep on walking until you really were tired. But since you've given me reason to think you trust me, at least a little, I am going to try something.'

'What?'

'Well, I think we should stop here and – oh, look! Over there –'

Instinctively, Arthur swings round to look where Kai is pointing; Kai moves smoothly to stand very close behind him, his other arm now somehow across Arthur's shoulders. His mouth is next to Arthur's ear as he says very quietly, 'Works almost every time…'

 

He can't resist brushing his lips over the glossy smoothness of Arthur's dark hair; he doesn't think Arthur has noticed. Arthur whips round, laughing, only to find that he's in Kai's arms.

'How did you do that?' he demands, and pushes Kai away, but only so that he can watch Kai do the trick again. He observes it seriously, methodically, as though learning a new skill with a blade; then makes Kai play the girl, until he's got the move just right and Kai is caught in his embrace. He steps back, grips Kai by the forearms, smiling; Kai's heart turns over. The eager, unsuspecting voice asks, 'Now what?'

 

Kai hesitates. He is in too deep already. He should stop this now, while he still can, return to the village, drown his sorrows in the usual jug of mead, find some girl to ease his aching prick for the night…

 

But his will is no longer his own.

 

'Now, I'm still trying not to frighten you… so I'm going to stand away from you –' He blushes. 'So you can't feel that I'm – you know.' He stares into Arthur's eyes, willing him not to look down. He swallows. 'It's best if a girl discovers that for herself. Later. When she's already decided that she's interested.'

The dazzling blue gaze holds his. 'How do you get her interested in that, though? How do you even kiss her without getting your face slapped?' Arthur's hand goes instinctively to his sore cheek. 'You've already got further than I usually do…'

Kai is torn. The feel of Arthur's slim body in his arms, the fragrance of his hair, the warmth of his touch, all are intoxicating. He'll never have them any other way; but this is wrong, so wrong…

 

'Kai?' Arthur is waiting, still smiling.

 

With a heroic effort, Kai lets him go. He heaves a deep sigh. 'Arthur, I – I can't tell you any more. We should go home now.'

 

But Arthur reaches for him, undeterred.

 

'Kai, I have to know –'

 

Kai twists out of his grip, tormented, and snaps, 'What – you want me to kiss you?'

 

Arthur bites his lip and thinks about it, very seriously. Then he looks up into Kai's unhappy face. 'Yes. Yes, I do. I've hardly ever –' He takes a deep breath. 'Please don't be angry with me. I need to know what I'm doing wrong. You're the only person I can ask. And I promise not to hit you…'

 

This answer is so completely unexpected, Kai feels the world swaying around him. He's playing with fire, and he knows it. But he is powerless to resist, and from a long way off he hears his own voice saying, 'Very well, then. This may feel a little strange…'

 

Then he puts his hands on Arthur's shoulders and takes Arthur's mouth with his own, as carefully and gently as he knows how.

As he has wanted to do ever since he can remember…

~~~

It doesn't feel strange at all. Arthur is rather relieved. He'd been worried that there must be some trick to it, some knack that he hadn't learned but that women still expected him to know. In his admittedly limited experience, kissing has always been awkward and uncomfortable, and he hasn't enjoyed it much; but the touch of Kai's lips on his is simple, and natural, and somehow their mouths fit together as though they were made to do so, or as though they've been practising this for years. He can't for the life of him work out what Kai is doing, to make it feel like this; and after a short while he stops trying. If this is what it's like, no wonder every girl in the village wants to be in Kai's arms. He presses his mouth against Kai's a little harder and wonders what it would be like, if this was for real, if Kai wasn't pretending.

 

Then Arthur realises.

 

Kai isn't.

 

The world changes, and his heart soars.

Kai's breathing quickens; his hands wind themselves into Arthur's hair. Arthur wraps his arms around Kai and holds him close, feeling Kai's hands slide down his back to caress his buttocks and pull him closer still. He can feel Kai's heart beating. He is suddenly aware that they are both hard, and he wants to tell Kai that he doesn't mind, that he's not afraid, that they don't need to pretend any more, but then Kai makes a small sound of distress and abruptly pulls away.

'Oh, no – No –'

'Kai?'

Arthur reaches for him, but he shakes his head violently, stumbles away into the bushes. 'Don't follow me.'

But Arthur does. Something bad is happening to Kai, and he wants to help him. He pushes through the yellowing leaves, hears a groan, and stops abruptly.

Kai is hunched against a tree only a couple of paces away. He has torn his breeches down partway and is clutching his hardness with both hands. His body shudders, and Arthur realises with a shock that he is coming, spilling himself over the bark, an expression of utter misery on his face.

He looks up and sees Arthur watching him; he snarls in shame and fury. 'I told you not to follow me.'

'Nobody tells Arthur what to do.' Arthur's pride is nettled. 'I'll follow whom I choose. I'm your leader, remember? Or soon will be, at any rate. And anyway' – his tone softens – 'I want to help you.'

'You can't,' Kai says savagely. 'You can't…' He slumps to his knees, buries his face in his hands, and starts to cry.

Arthur kneels beside him. 'Yes, I can.' He puts a hand on Kai's shaking shoulder.

But Kai shakes off the touch as though it burns him. 'Go away.'

He is lost, and desolate, and on the point of lashing out, or running away. This is the hardest test Arthur's ever had to face. He's going to need everything Kai's just taught him, and more, if he is to remedy this situation. And there is a lot more at stake this time than just his reputation with the girls...

'Kai.' Arthur takes a deep breath, and steadies himself. 'Is this – is this on my account?'

He steels himself for Kai's answer.

 

Kai nods miserably. 'I'm sorry.'

 

Arthur's heart is hammering in his throat. 'How long has it been this way, with you?'

'Since before I was old enough to know what it meant.' Kai's voice is muffled in his hands, and thick with tears. 'Something happened to me the day I met you, and as we grew up together, it got stronger. And by the time I realised, it was too late. But I never intended that you should find out. Certainly not like this – never like this…'

He curls into a ball, his head on his knees. More sobs wrack him. 'I'm sorry. I'll leave the village; go away…' His voice breaks.

'Don't talk nonsense.' Arthur sits down beside him, an arm around his shoulders. Kai tries to shake him off, but Arthur holds him with firm assurance. 'Listen to me, Kai. Why do you think I've been trying so hard? With the training, the drinking, the fighting… and the girls, too? I didn't see it before, but I do now. I was trying to keep up with you. I could see you going on ahead of me, and I kept hoping you'd turn round and wait for me, but you never did. I couldn't blame you for not wanting little brother at your heels all the time – but all the same, I missed you. I was unhappy. And I didn't understand why, until today.'

But Kai is not comforted. 'I can't stay.'

'You can't leave.' Arthur is adamant. 'I need you, Kai. And not just to support my leadership in the longhouse, and watch my back on the battlefield. I need you to be with me. Because I'll never be complete without you.'

Kai shakes his head and says bitterly, 'You'll never be able to trust me again.'

'What makes you think that?'

'I wronged you. Lied to you. Took from you by deception what you would never have given me freely –'

'Wouldn't I?' Very deliberately, Arthur reaches out and unclasps one of Kai's big hands from around his knees, and places it over his own groin, where his hardness is still pressing at the front of his breeches. 'I would, too, only you never asked. And you don't need to ask, now. If you still want this, it's yours. And if you don't –' He feels a lump in his throat, at the thought. 'Then I'll wait for you until you do. Until we're both ready.'

'Truly?' Kai whispers.

'I swear it. I give you my word. Arthur keeps his word. You know that.' Arthur strives to put all of his new-found understanding and confidence into his voice. He has to be the leader now, for Kai; has to reassure him, give him back his pride and his place at Arthur's shoulder, so they can go forward together.

Anything else is unthinkable.

Kai looks slowly down at his hand, and then up into Arthur's eyes. He is trembling.

'You want me –' He is looking at Arthur the way a starving man looks at a loaf of bread. Arthur is trembling too, struggling to control the tumult Kai's merest touch is causing in his body, but unwilling for that touch to be withdrawn. 'Yes. I'm telling you. And I'm going to go on telling you' – there is a smile on his face now – 'until it sinks in through that yellow thatch of yours, and you believe me.'

'I believe you.' Kai's voice cracks and breaks, and suddenly he is crying again, and so is Arthur, and Kai reaches out his other arm and pulls Arthur to him, and then they are lying on the damp leafmould under the tree, mouths locked together, and neither is pretending any more.

Arthur fumbles hastily with his belt, unfastens his clothing, feels Kai's hand slip inside it, searching for him. He has thought he wanted release for his body before, with this girl or that, or sometimes alone in the forest, or under the sheepskins of his own bed at night; but he has never known desire like this. His skin is on fire at every slightest touch of Kai's fingers. He is sweating all over, and trembling, and he can hear himself making small helpless sounds in his throat as Kai continues to kiss him; but he has no control over what is happening to him, none at all. The pressure in his loins is unbearable; his balls ache; his erection seems to swell to fill the whole world as Kai finally frees it and wraps a tender, adoring hand around it.

Arthur pulls his mouth away from Kai's and gasps for air. He presses frantically into Kai's hand, seeking relief from a need so desperate it seems it must tear him apart. He doesn't know what to do.

'Help me,' he whispers, 'help me, Kai –'

Kai moves his hand a little, gripping Arthur's prick just below the head, working it up and down, his touch firm and sure. 'Let it go,' he murmurs. 'Don't fight it. Give in to it. I'm here. I won't leave you…'

Arthur writhes, and whimpers, and finally gives in, hearing his own cry echoing through the clearing as all of his frustration and longing and love pours out of him and spills itself into Kai's gentle hands. It leaves him feeling weak, and washed clean, and happier than he can ever remember being in his life before.

And when he raises his head to look into Kai's hazel eyes, he can see that it's the same for him, too.

They lie still for a while, not speaking. Arthur would happily stay here for ever; but the sun is sinking and it's getting cold. Reluctantly he scrambles to his feet and reaches a hand down for Kai.

'Time to go home.'

Kai sighs, gets up and adjusts his clothing. They set off together through the darkening forest, their arms around each other's shoulders.

~~~

'And just what have you two been up to in the forest, neglecting your duties all afternoon?' Llud asks, as he tends to the fire beneath their evening meal.

Kai chokes on his mead.

'What makes you think we were in the forest?' Arthur asks innocently, trying not to look at Kai.

'I know you were,' Llud says patiently, 'because you've both got leaves in your hair. And from the same tree. Why were you in the forest instead of tending to your weapons?'

'I'd offended the smith's daughter, and my elder brother wished to teach me the error of my ways. Before I caused offence to any of the other young women of the village.' Arthur is impressively straight-faced.

Llud raises an eyebrow. 'Well, Kai? Did you succeed?'

 

'Oh, yes,' Kai says, nodding gravely. 'I think he's learned his lesson.'


End file.
